There’s this meme circulating on social media with a picture of a Bobby”the Poet” Womack. OUCH!

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Valentine’s Day isn’t only for the bunned up and locked down. There is enough love in the universe to spread around for those who choose to travel solo.

A unique and charming idea is “Everyone is Everyone’s Valentine” cocktail party.
Invite 6-8 single friends of different ages and lifestyles (only the fun ones, to mix it up).
Tell each one to bring either a Valentine shaped box of good chocolate or a bunch red roses.
The host provides a humorous valentine card for each invitee that is placed onto a festive decorated table. Choose favorite jazz and instrumental love songs and let the guest mix and mingle.

To set the mood for fun, a single, romantic and sensual themed brown liquor drink can be highlighted like the favorite Hennessy’s XOXOXO Valentine Cocktail (recipe below). Serve it along with easy to prepare heavy appetizers.

Amp up the party with food, drink and music then gather the guest around to play a lively game called Do You Know Me?

Instructions
Randomly divide the players into teams of two
Send half into another room or isolated where they cannot hear the questions or the answers.(No cheating)
The host acts as the MC and asks the questions, writes down the answers for each team and adds up the points
Create fun and interesting questions and answers by using familiar names from which they can choose for example :What actor does your partner look the most like?
Denzel Washington, Tika Sumpter or Nikki MinajWhat movie would you use to describe your last relationship? Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Star Wars,Temptation etc.What is your partners best physical asset?
There should be no more than 4-5 questions for each set
Bring the partners back to answer the questions and then send the other half of the players into the room
Repeat the process with new questions.
The team with the most points each wins a gift bag with bottle of Hennessy and Hershey’s Kisses.
Keep the questions and the answers generic and upbeat to guarantee the maximum amount of fun and laughter.

The cocktail party should begin early and end early so the singles can dodge the Valentines Day restaurant traffic. Who wants to be around a bunch of googly-eyed couples that need to get a room anyway?

Afterwards the guest who are party people can still go out for a night on the town. An “Everyone is Everyone’s Valentine” cocktail party will make the day special with good company, delicious drinks and great laughter.

XOXOXO Hennessy Valentine Cocktail

Ingredients

1.5 oz Hennessy VS

.5 oz Antica Formula sweet vermouth

.5 oz Crème Yvette

Splash of simple syrup

1 dash Angostura Bitters

1 dash Fee brothers Aztec chocolate bitters

3 muddled Black Cherries

1/8th of a lemon

Fresh Grated cinnamon

Glassware: Rocks Glass

Garnish: Cherry

Instructions:

Muddle cherries and lemon wedge in a shaker tin

Add all liquid to shaker with ice, shake until well chilled

Strain into glass with large ice-cube

Grate cinnamon over the top and garnish with a cherry.

Note: Instead of Hennessy VS and Simple Syrup, add 1.5 oz of Hennessy XO to make a more opulent cocktail experience.